# Should the US be bartering with terrorists? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 1, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787 "2014-06-01T20:32:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/81 "2014-06-03T03:37:13Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > Although I have to say that anyone who complained about Obama’s ability to “kill US citizens” (which is a complaint I have seen from the right and the left) really shouldn’t take the side that this guy wasn’t worth trying to get back since he was still a US citizen. If those people think that Anwar al-Awlaki didn’t deserve to be targeted by drones then certainly to be consistent they should at least have wanted Bowe Bergdahl to not be held captive, right? Well if you walk away from your country I would consider that a revocation of citizenship. I have no problems targeting people who declare war on my country. I don’t get your argument about not wanting Bergdahl held captive. If he’s standing on a street corner in Pakistan I’d invite him over for a chat regarding desertion. That’s an easy call. Since it appears he voluntarily left for parts unknown I don’t see value in rescuing him. I just don’t. He lied in his own video from his captors. He didn’t lag behind his fellow troops, he left them. So unless he’s some kind of agent on a secret mission then he gave up any expectation of rescue at the expense of the people he abandoned. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/82 "2014-06-03T03:43:27Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Sorry no, you don’t get to jump into this with your bullshit and then tell me to take it somewhere else. The Tea Party formed and was supported by conservative talk shows specifically ranting against REPUBLICAN spending money. They ran against Republicans in primaries over this, not Democrats. What happened before that was a shit ton of Republicans voting up the debt. You’re invited to start your own thread… I honestly thought that it started as butthurt over TARP, which is still earlier than 2009. Libertarians were pissed about W’s spending like a drunken sailor much earlier, but no one listens to them anyway. Do you have a link or two showing that the Tea Party was up and running around, say, the Part B Medicare Bill? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/83 "2014-06-03T04:28:05Z")
We can bicker about the arcane details of this case, but my own personal opinion is: The sooner we get out of Afghanistan and the sooner we shut down Gitmo, the better. My main regret is that we’re still leaving 10,000 troops over there. If Congress thinks Obama overstepped his bounds wrt the current law, then they can deal with that. If they don’t, then that pretty much says it all. I don’t really care if this guy was a hero or a traitor. We can work that out later. I just want us OUT OF AFGHANISTAN. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/84 "2014-06-03T07:02:49Z")
It leaves a bad taste in the mouth but I guess it had to be done. What should not be done however is to ignore the circumstances of this guy’s capture. There should be a thorough investigation and the results should be made public. It’s clear that even if he was derelict in his duty this soldier will not be prosecuted and that’s probably the right decision. But we do need to know what happened. On another note many reports suggest that Bergdahl has forgotten how to speak English. That sounds totally absurd to me. Either the reports are wrong, Bergdahl is lying or he’s demented. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/85 "2014-06-03T07:11:22Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > It leaves a bad taste in the mouth but I guess it had to be done. That’s what SHE… I am deeply sorry. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/86 "2014-06-03T10:33:43Z")
The history of the Tea Party has nothing to do with this thread. Everyone stick to the topic of prisoner exchanges. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/87 "2014-06-03T11:17:04Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > There was no mention of hatred. They said he talked about walking across the border to Pakistan which was close by. On the night of his disappearance he asked if he could leave camp with his gun and night goggles. Where is the hatred in these statements? Totally missing my point. Accusations of desertion are serious, and should be treated seriously, but they have nothing to do with whether we try to get a US soldier back. Critical statements by his fellow soldiers should have nothing to do with whether we try to get him back. Seriously – do you think that because he was accused of desertion, we should have just said “Taliban, you can keep him”? If so, I’m very, very glad you were not in a position of leadership when I served. We try to get him back, and then, if warranted, we can try him for desertion. ---
**Author:** ![Oliveritaly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oliveritaly/32/15233_2.png) [@Oliveritaly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oliveritaly)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/88 "2014-06-03T12:24:13Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Totally missing my point. Accusations of desertion are serious, and should be treated seriously, but they have nothing to do with whether we try to get a US soldier back. Critical statements by his fellow soldiers should have nothing to do with whether we try to get him back. > > Seriously – do you think that because he was accused of desertion, we should have just said “Taliban, you can keep him”? If so, I’m very, very glad you were not in a position of leadership when I served. > > We try to get him back, and then, if warranted, we can try him for desertion. iiandyiiii, 20+ year US Army vet here chiming in to say you’ve nailed it with every post in this thread. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/89 "2014-06-03T12:28:13Z")
> [@Oliveritaly](#): > > iiandyiiii, > > 20+ year US Army vet here chiming in to say you’ve nailed it with every post in this thread. Thanks. Your kind words are appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/90 "2014-06-03T14:17:05Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > 1. If the enemy is holding one of ours, we bring them back, no matter the cost. If he was a traitor, that determination rests with the military justice system, NEVER with the enemy nor with hearsay. > > 2. One of ours, even a criminal, is worth a hundred or more Taliban. > > 3. The Taliban is already highly motivated to kill/capture Americans. It’s not possible to increase their desire for this goal. If this deal does anything, it strengthens the incentive to keep their captives alive. This is just over the top. No matter the cost? One of our criminal soldiers is worth more than hundred of them? Such thinking puts us in a terrible negotiating position for one thing and reeks a little too much of soldier worship. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/91 "2014-06-03T14:18:59Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Well if you walk away from your country I would consider that a revocation of citizenship. I have no problems targeting people who declare war on my country. I don’t get your argument about not wanting Bergdahl held captive. Some people (not saying you are among them) take the view that the US should not target it’s own citizens, even going so far as to decry the death of [Anwar al-Awlaki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_al-Awlaki) even though there was [plenty of evidence](http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/09/the-us-case-against-awlaki/) that he did a lot worse crimes against America than Bowe Bergdahl. If you make a [Venn Diagram](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venn_diagram) of people who feel we shouldn’t have killed Awlaki and people who feel we should have left Bergdahl to rot with his Taliban captors, there is undoubtedly some overlap. And the people who are in that overlap are, in my view, being inconsistent with their views. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/92 "2014-06-03T14:19:09Z")
> [@](#): > > One of our criminal soldiers is worth more than hundred of them? Well, yes. We can always capture more Taliban fighters but we can’t resuscitate a dead guy. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/93 "2014-06-03T14:30:10Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, yes. We can always capture more Taliban fighters but we can’t resuscitate a dead guy. Let’s say he was convicted of desertion, escaped custody and was captured by Taliban. Still worth a hundred Taliban to get him back? How about if the ransom demand was withdrawal of all American soldiers overseas? Any cost, right? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/94 "2014-06-03T14:33:07Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Let’s say he was convicted of desertion, escaped custody and was captured by Taliban. Someone who was convicted of desertion might be a different situation. But this isn’t that different situation. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/95 "2014-06-03T14:45:55Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Let’s say he was convicted of desertion, escaped custody and was captured by Taliban. Still worth a hundred Taliban to get him back? How about if the ransom demand was withdrawal of all American soldiers overseas? Any cost, right? Well, no. I’m not particularly interested in the fate of someone who’s already been convicted. And I wouldn’t go as far as **HMS I**. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/96 "2014-06-03T14:51:24Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > Someone who was convicted of desertion might be a different situation. But this isn’t that different situation. Yeah, I know. You can see above I was responding to someone saying even our criminals are worth a 100 Taliban trade. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/97 "2014-06-03T18:52:33Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Yeah, I know. You can see above I was responding to someone saying even our criminals are worth a 100 Taliban trade. I phrased that poorly; of course in this thread we’re talking about a suspected criminal, not a convicted criminal. Yes, to me it’s worth 100 Taliban prisoners to retrieve a suspected criminal, because he may not actually be guilty. If he is in fact guilty, it’s on us to determine that, we don’t outsource our military justice system to the Taliban. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/98 "2014-06-03T20:57:26Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Let’s say he was convicted of desertion, escaped custody and was captured by Taliban. Still worth a hundred Taliban to get him back? How about if the ransom demand was withdrawal of all American soldiers overseas? Any cost, right? His desertion trial would have been in the US. He would be in Levenworth Kansas. Not much chance that after his escape he would be captured by the Taliban. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/99 "2014-06-03T22:04:46Z")
Here’s Senator John McCain in [May 2012](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/world/asia/pow-is-focus-of-talks-on-taliban-prisoner-swap.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&): > [@](#): > > Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and a former prisoner of war, has been among the most opposed in Congress to transferring the five Taliban detainees. In January, when he thought the prisoners were to be exchanged for a Taliban statement renouncing violence, Mr. McCain lashed out at the deal, calling it “bizarre” and “highly questionable.” Then, in [February 2014](http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/john-McCain-Taliban-Bowe-Bergdah-exchange/2014/02/18/id/553454/): > [@](#): > > McCain said his stance has changed only because the previous proposal was to release five “hard-core” Taliban leaders as a “confidence-building measure.” The current proposal would be an actual exchange of prisoners. > > “I would be inclined to support such a thing, depending on a lot of details,” he said. And now, McCain [last Sunday on Face the Nation](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-mccain-questions-swap-of-highest-high-risk-people-for-bergdahl/): > [@](#): > > “These are the hardest of the hard core. These are the highest high-risk people, and others that we have released have gone back into the fight,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in an interview on “Face the Nation,” adding that he was disturbed the Taliban named the prisoners they wanted in exchange for Bergdahl’s freedom. > > “We need to know more information about the conditions of where they are going to be,” McCain added. “It is disturbing that these individuals would have the ability to reenter the fight.” I defy anyone to read these statements and reasonably conclude the GOP in general and Senator McCain in particular are not shamelessly exploiting this issue for political gain. That’s why I just don’t take any GOP criticisms of this deal seriously. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787/100 "2014-06-03T22:31:03Z")
> [@CJJ](#): > > Here’s Senator John McCain in [May 2012](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/world/asia/pow-is-focus-of-talks-on-taliban-prisoner-swap.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&): > > Then, in [February 2014](http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/john-McCain-Taliban-Bowe-Bergdah-exchange/2014/02/18/id/553454/): > > And now, McCain [last Sunday on Face the Nation](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-mccain-questions-swap-of-highest-high-risk-people-for-bergdahl/): > > I defy anyone to read these statements and reasonably conclude the GOP in general and Senator McCain in particular are not shamelessly exploiting this issue for political gain. That’s why I just don’t take any GOP criticisms of this deal seriously. :rolleyes: Like one Senator is indicative of the thought patterns of the whole party. Logic FAIL on your part. Not only that, I fail to see the problems with McCain’s statements that you evidently see. Perhaps you could offer more—make that SOME—explanation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-be-bartering-with-terrorists/689787.md?page=6)